Stability of Bluffs Examined in Oak Creek Lakefront Redevelopment

"Bluff stabilization" is a hot term these days after at We Energies' Oak Creek power plant Monday.

To the north of the plant is 250 acres of mostly desolate land that Oak Creek city officials are trying to redevelop and open up for public access.

Considering what happened Monday, have they studied whether that land, which sits atop bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan, is stable?

"We looked at this issue very early on," City Attorney Larry Haskin said. "It’s an issue that’s been on our due-diligence checklist."

Haskin and City Administrator Gerald Peterson said that a University of Wisconsin professor did a walk-through and issued a report on the area's bluff stabilization. The southernmost part of the lakefront redevelopment area has already been cut down and secured.

"This is something we have been keenly aware of," Peterson said. "We are trying to mitigate the long-term maintenance issues as well as any pollution issues that might be there."

Environmental issues have been the biggest hold-up in redevelopment of the Oak Creek lakefront, as the area was once home to several large manufacturers at a time when regulations were lax.

City officials say a full-scale redevelopment of the lakefront is still quite a few years away but and anticipate it beginning with a park being constructed sometime in 2012 or 2013.

For more on the city's lakefront, visit Oak Creek Patch's lakefront redevelopment page.